Eye of the Storm
by Starlight-Ninja
Summary: Just a little JosephXBrad fluff I wrote in an AU timeline of Resident Evil 3, where they both live. I wasn't sure about the rating, so I made it T.


AN: I've had this up on Deviantart for a while, and since it got a good response, I figured I'd post it here. This does have two guys kissing, so if it offends you, then please push the back button and don't leave rude comments. I did try to warn you.  


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Joseph awoke two days after his and Brad's leap out of the railcar to the heavy pounding in his head. It took five minutes for the pain to fade enough for him to open his eyes and take a look at his surroundings. He was in a practically empty unfamiliar room with nothing but a wardrobe in front of the single window and the queen-sized bed he was currently in. The once off-white walls were spattered with blood and covered with torn pictures and the pieces of what once was a wooden nightstand. That's when he recognized it as the bedroom of a two-room hotel suite. _What the hell happened here? _

Remembering the events of the past couple days (and almost falling back onto the bed from sitting up too fast) Joseph made his way across the room and slowly opened the door. The second part of the hotel room was almost as bad as the previous one, with even more blood on the walls and destroyed furniture. The only things still in one piece were the mini fridge and several cabinets in the kitchen area, the tables barricading the door, and the brown couch in the middle of the room. That's where he found Brad, who was uncomfortably asleep facing the door, holding his Barrette in his hand.

Waking Brad up while he was sleeping was one of the worst things you could ever do. When he had first transferred to Raccoon City Police Department just over three year ago, it had specifically stated in both the transfer papers and by all his past employers to never, EVER, wake him up if he fell asleep on the job. Of course, on April Fools' Day, some idiot decided to be funny and wake him up anyway. Saying that it didn't go over well would have been the biggest understatement in the history of the planet; even the worst paranoid old war veterans in mental homes who got woken up unexpectedly couldn't even come close to Brad's reaction. He had literally jumped a good five feet in the air and dove under the nearest thing he could fit under, and, all the while curled up in the fetal position and muttering impossible-to-follow terrified rambles about some "she", his father, and a few of the goriest torture methods anyone had ever heard of (a few of which made almost everyone throw up once or twice). They had to kick every single girl out of the room before anyone could even talk to the guy; after that it took three hours to convince him that neither "she" nor his father were nowhere in the city and that neither of them were going to hurt him, then an additional five hours after that to get him to come out from under the desk. Afterwards Wesker and Chief Irons had both yelled at and chewed out the idiot who started the whole thing and gave him the graveyard shift for two months. Brad got sent home and given the next two days off, all of which were spent at Joseph's house as he was too afraid to stay in his apartment. Not that Joseph minded in the least; they had started secretly dating after that. (Although, the rumors that had been going around made him wonder how secret it really was, but as very few people believed or listened to them, he found he really didn't care about them all that much.) _Besides, I just recently found a way around his wake-up panic attacks._

Moving slowly so that he didn't wake Brad up early and ruin everything, Joseph made his way to the couch and, very gently, started kissing him on the lips. Once Brad started responding, he broke it off and whispered in his ear, "Brad, time to wake up." Brad's response was a sleepy little plea of "…Just five more minutes." Joseph almost gave in—Brad was completely relaxed by now (something that never happened when he was awake) and looked absolutely adorable—but that _thing_ had the habit of busting in when you least expected it; the sooner they got moving, the better. Against his better judgment, he risked giving Brad's shoulder a light shake and whispered, louder this time, "Come on, wake up. We can't stay here much longer; we have to get moving." For a minute, the way Brad jumped made him think that he was going to have another panic episode, but thankfully all he did was cling to him and shoot terrified glances around the room.

After seeing that the area was free of monsters or any other threats, Brad turned his attention back to Joseph, practically tackling the blonde. "Joseph! You're okay! I thought you were going to die. You don't have a concussion, do you?" Despite the pain in his head from being forced into the arm of the couch, Joseph couldn't help but smile at how fast the brunette went from happiness and relief to fear and concern. "Relax, I'm just fine. All I have is a slight headache from you practically throwing me into the couch." "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-" Joseph cut his apologetic rant off with a quick kiss on the cheek. "Calm down already. I just said I was fine. You know, you worry way too much." The blush on Brad's face made him chuckle slightly, which got louder when he noticed the position they were in—Brad was straddling his waist and practically pinning him against the couch.

"Good to see that you're getting bolder. Maybe I'll let you stay in this position next time." Brad's response to his playful remark was a darker blush while attempting to hide his face in Joseph's neck. Laughing, Joseph pulled Brad closer to him and got off the couch, which wasn't that hard since Brad only weighed 130 lbs. Brad, not expecting to be picked up, squeaked and wrapped himself tighter around Joseph, trying not to fall. "Joe, how many times have I asked you to _warn_ me first?" "Too many times to remember. Besides, you just sound so cute when you squeak and start whining." "I don't whine." "You're doing it right now, aren't you?" "Just-just shut up." Their mini argument was cut off by both their stomachs growling at the same time.

Joseph carried Brad all the way into the kitchen before putting him down on the counter to start looking through the cabinets. Not finding anything in there, he turned his attention to the fridge, where he found an entire picnic basket. Feeling a slight pang of remorse for the family that never got to enjoy it, he pulled it out and set it on the counter next to Brad, who had already jumped down onto the floor. Inside they found two turkey sandwiches and sodas as well as a large pudding cup, the kind with two different flavors in it. After wolfing down the sandwiches (even though Joseph hated turkey with a passion and would normally flinch at the smell of it) and gulping the sodas in record time, they stared at the lone pudding cup, debating over which one should get it. "Joe, you take it. I'm really not all that hungry anymore." "You sure you don't want it? You love vanilla pudding." "I'm sure. Take it." "Fine, but just remember you had your chance." Despite what he said, once he finished the chocolate half and started on the vanilla, he tried offering it to him again. "You're _sure_ you don't want it?" "It's okay. Besides, you already started it." "That doesn't mean I can't share." "I know, but you need it more than I do. You cracked your head almost wide open."

Checking his head for the first time since he woke up, he winced when he felt his lucky bandana covering the descent-sized cut running from the top of his head all the way to his right ear. "Sorry, your bandana was the only thing I could find at the time." "That's fine. It's not like it can get any redder anyway," before Brad knew what was going on, he found the spoon sticking out of his own mouth, "But that doesn't mean I can't share the pudding with you." Giving in, Brad let Joseph feed him half of the vanilla pudding remaining in the container. "We should go find Jill and Carlos now." "I know. I'm starting to think that that monster found them first…" "They can take care of themselves almost better than we can. I'm sure they're just fine." "Yeah. Let's get going."

Subconsciously remembering to throw away the trash on his way out, Brad followed Joseph to the door, after remembering to stop by the couch to pick up his forgotten pistol and the closet for Joseph's shotgun. Back on the streets of Raccoon City, they made their way to the park, as that was the only place they hadn't been and they figured neither Jill or Carlos would go backtracking to places they've already been to. Upon reaching the gates they were jumped by a pack of those fleshless dogs, but they didn't last long once they got buckshot in their faces. They didn't meet anything else on their way through, but as there were dead zombie corpses every few feet along the path, they weren't all that worried about it. They did get a surprise when they found the empty fountain with a tunnel in it, though. Brad didn't want to go down into the sewers, but Joseph had already started down before he could voice his opinion. Sighing, he followed Joseph down the tunnel and up the ladder into the graveyard, where they got another surprise when they saw Jill walking down the path further ahead. Taking off at a run, they tried to catch up with her.

"Hey, Valentine! Wait up!"

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AN: So, what do you think? Please review and let me know.


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